Residents Raise Concerns About Peninsula Boulevard

Dr. Al Musella said that the work being done on Peninsula Boulevard forced his Hewlett doctor’s office to be closed for five days in a recent week. A 95-year-old patient was even forced to walk blocks to get to his office, he said.

“The company has been shaking ground and I had $15,000 of damage in cracks to my foundation,” he said at last Thursday’s with several county officials. The contractor also did not give any warning to the residents near his home office that work was being done, he said.

Musella wasn’t alone in his concerns about the that Five Towners have had to deal with as Nassau County installed a force main pipe from Inwood to the Bay Park sewage treatment plant along Peninsula Boulevard. The forum at the was meant as a way for residents to talk to government officials, but the conversation kept coming back to Peninsula Boulevard.

Public Works Commissioner Shila Shah-Gavnoudias said it’s the contractor’s responsibility to give out notices and protect traffic. “If we had known about that issue, we would have done something about that,” she said. “I’m going to have to sit down with our engineers. We fine the contractors for every day there’s insufficient protection of traffic.”

Seventh District Legislator Howard Kopel said the work would soon come to an end. “A lot of it has been repaved. A lot of it is awful,” he said. “That’s going to be fixed and I believe going to be repaved entirely in a few months down the road.”

But Javad Green of Woodmere, who has been in contact with the county government about the Peninsula project since January, said he wants to be assured the work will be done right.

“Why not have the foresight to say ‘let’s do Peninsula Boulevard right?’ he asked. “Doing a half decent job now is not going to last. Whenever it’s raining, Peninsula Boulevard has been terrible to drive on.”

Shah said that the majority of work has been completed now that the force main pipe has been installed. “The current work area is the Gibson, Harris and Peninsula Boulevard intersection,” she said. “We’re installing an [sewage] interceptor at this location … and we could still be in this area for another four weeks.”

She said that most of the disruption to drivers will be due to the repaving to the remaining part of the affected Peninsula Boulevard — between Hanlon Drive to Rockaway Turnpike in Cedarhurst.

“As far as the rest of Peninsula Boulevard, you’re looking at one week for repaving and four weeks at the intersection of Harris and Boulevard, so we’re just about out of this area,” she said.

Shah reiterated that the project to consolidate the Lawrence and Cedarhurst sewage plants would not move forward for some time. “There are a number of capital projects that need to be finished before more sewage is sent there. It will continue to be treated at Cedarhurst and Lawrence before it’s sent to Bay Park,” she said.

Residents also expressed concern about speeders on Peninsula Boulevard.

“We’re going to send cars to do traffic enforcement on Peninsula Boulevard,” Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said. “It is a road that always had a problem.”

The county is also beginning work on Mill Road to replace about 18 traffic lights. “They’re close to their useful life and it’s a danger to have them up much longer,” Shah said. “So at this point, we’re going to have a full replacement, that’s why we’re there right now.”

Ben Eilbott, president of the board of trustees of , questioned Kopel and Shah about a traffic study that was done a few years ago on Broadway. Shah said she hasn’t seen the report, but will track it down.

Kopel seemed to capture the essence of the night when he said, “There will always be mistakes made, and hopefully they won’t be made twice.”